On 16 December 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs (MoARA) solicits opinion on draft measures for the import and export surveillance of pesticides, aimed to optimized administrative procedures and facilitate trade. The most remarkable change of this move is the paperless operation of customs clearance: once the pesticide exporter/importer obtained the electric import/export notice through the Chinese International Trade Single Window(Single Window), the customs will release the cargo without collecting paper documents.

The Chinese Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs has recently launched the online filing system for 7 types of chemical fertilizers, namely water-soluble fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, water-soluble fertilizer containing calcium and magnesium, water-soluble fertilizer containing calcium and magnesium, magnesium-potassium chloride for agriculture use, magnesium-potassium sulfate for agriculture use, compound fertilizer (complex fertilizer) and bulk blending fertilizer.

The number of the macronutrient Water-soluble fertilizers has grown to 3600, taking up almost 15% of fertilizers registered with MoARA and their uneven quality performance became increasingly comparable with China’s current agricultural strategy of quality enhancement and agrochemical use reduction.

On September 13, 2020, the Chinese State Council issued a resolution regarding the abolishment and decentralization of administrative matters. The registration experimentation of new pesticides and registration of 7 chemical fertilizers will be reduced from pre-event approval to filing formality.

On September 3, 2020, the Chinese National Health Commission displayed the amendment to the pending mandatory standard, “GB 388750-2020 Lists of Material and Restricted Substances in Disinfectants”, which is due to take effect on November 1, 2020.

On August 28, China ICAMA issued the 7th batch of pesticides to be approved in 2020, consisting of 4 novel active ingredients. Bayer’s Tetraniliprole was proposed for the control of Spodoptera exigua on cabbage and Mitsui’s Broflanilide was proposed by BASF, targeting Plutella xylostella and Phyllotreta vittata Fabricius on cabbage and Chinese cabbage.

Disinfection products refer to a sort of disease-preventing products that eliminate pathogenic microorganisms and block the transmission through chemical, physical and biological methods. The Chinese “Measures for the Control of Disinfection” classifies disinfection products into disinfectant, disinfecting apparatus and sanitary products.

On August 4, 2020, the General Office of the National Health Commission released the final notice regarding the enhanced regulation of disinfection products during the Covid-19 control, which was consulted early on June 19. Apart from the aims of resuming normal record-filing management of non-new disinfectants and ensure the safety and effectiveness of disinfection products produced in China and intensifying the ex-post surveillance of disinfection products already been placed on the market, the emergently placed disinfectants will have a longer transitional period to complete the normal record-filing procedures until December 31, 2020.

China approved 474 pesticides during the first half of 2020, of which 445 are agricultural pesticides and 29 are hygiene pesticides, representing a bounce back from H1 2019 of only 99 pesticides. The number of pesticides approved down sharply in 2019 due to the new data requirement enacted. It is unlikely to see a return to the heady numbers in 2017 and 2018.

On August 4, 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs released the Announcement 321 to designate 11 testing institutes for pesticide registration and amend the non-technical matters of 9 labs designated previously.